Deliciously fresh Mandarin Curd!

I have been day dreaming of food at work a lot lately. When you work with people and sometimes need an escape from the day to day reality, there is always dinner to think about. OK, maybe I’m more of a dessert person.

I was talking to a lady at my work the other day about lemon curd. There is something so alluring about the tangy, buttery goodness. We were talking about ways we use this delicious condiment, when she dropped in something that made my already watering mouth drop open in delighted wonder. Mandarin curd. There is nothing about those two words that would not be a match made in heaven. So the planning began.

I have recently relocated to an area where there is a lot of fresh produce lined on the sides of the roads. Everywhere you look there are fruit trees, produce farms and dairies. There is something so down to earth about the area and I am constantly stopping on my way home to pick up something or another for dinner. My friend and I were talking about her little mandarin tree (her husband is an orchardist and grows completely organic fruit) and how for a small tree it was producing an amazing amount of fruit. My man is particularly partial to mandarins so I decided I would experiment.

Off we went to pick some fresh fruit, and with the help of two gorgeous, little, overzealous girls, I ended up with almost too much fruit. Almost…

So off into the kitchen I trot, with a giant bag of mandarins and curd on my mind. Delicious, delicious mandarin curd.

I used a couple different recipes to form this particular curd, and I used the juice of 8 mandarins, but 6 would be better for a more set curd. My curd was beautiful and runny like a thick honey, but this is my preference. More credit to the genius of the Country Women’s Association (CWA).

This recipe made 4x 250ml preserving mason jars.

Mandarin Curd

Ingredients:

• Zest and juice of 6 mandarins
• 250g butter, unsalted
• 500g of sugar, jam sugar (has extra pectin)
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 egg whites

Method:

Place the zest, juice, sugar and butter in a large bowl over a simmering double boiler.. Stir the mixture until the sugar and butter are completely dissolved.

Whisk the 4 yolks and 2 white together and then mix into the sugar mixture and continue to stir until the curd becomes thicker. This will start to resemble honey and will coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 20 minutes. The curd will set more once it has cooled. Do not over cook.

Pour the curd into sterilised jam jars (I used jars that had a waxed inner lid that sealed properly), and seal tightly before allowing to cool. Store in a cool dark place, and use within 1 month.

I used 4x 250ml preserving mason jars.

How to sterilise preserving jars:

Takes approximately 15 minutes.

Remove lids, and place the jars in the oven at 220’C for 15 minutes. Boil the lids in a heavy bottom saucepan for 15 minutes covered in boiling water. They are now ready for filling. Jars are filled while they are hot with hot curd to create an airtight seal as they cool.